


Draw Me In

by ByTheAngell (SomeLittleInfamy)



Series: Flufftober 2019 [27]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Art, Coffee Shops, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 16:44:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21200873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeLittleInfamy/pseuds/ByTheAngell
Summary: Jace has a crush on one of the cafe's frequent customers, but doesn't realize she's the artist of the paintings on the wall he's also very fond of.





	Draw Me In

**Author's Note:**

> Flufftober Day 27: Coffee Shop

Jace’s favorite part of the coffee shop he works at isn’t the espresso he makes himself more often than he probably should, or the tips he makes with a smile and well-timed hand run through his blonde hair, but rather the beautiful art on the wall. He’s never been a huge art person but the sketches and paintings that decorate the cafe all seem to draw his attention while he’s in the room and he often catches himself staring at them while work is slow, or appreciating the details when he’s clearing tables near one. 

He notices after a little while that one of the patrons, a girl with fiery red hair and a smile that could light up the room on even the dreariest Monday mornings, also spends a lot of time looking at them while she’s here. More than once she’s come in with a sketchbook of her own, drawing objects in front of her or people around the room. Jace manages to steal a glance or two when he walks by, enough to see that she’s ridiculously talented, and of course that doesn’t help the crush he already has on her. Not that he does anything about it - there’s no way someone that kind  _ and _ attractive is single, anyway, and he doesn’t want to make things awkward so that she stops coming in altogether. He’s perfectly content to continue their little interactions at the counter or when he swings by during lulls in business to see if she needs anything. 

One day he comes in and his face immediately falls at the sight of a blank space on the wall by the counter where his favorite of the paintings used to reside. 

“Something wrong?” The redhead asks, following his gaze to the wall. 

“No,” Jace quickly dismisses. “Nothing big at least. The painting that used to be there was my favorite, guess I’m just sad to see it go.” 

“You like the art here?” The girls asks, perking up significantly. 

“Yeah,” Jace admits easily, because it’s the truth. “I don’t know what it is about them, I’m not a big art person so I can’t get all technical on themes or styles, but… when I look at them I can sense the emotion, even the weird abstract ones. Like I can feel what the person who painted them was feeling, you know?” He shrugs. “Whatever it is, they’re really great, and I know that doesn’t do them justice-” Jace tries to recover, not sure why he thought he could actually start discussing art with anyone, let alone the girl who is clearly an artist herself. Or maybe that’s  _ why _ he feels comfortable stumbling through his words over it, because hopefully she’ll get the feeling. 

“I think that does them plenty of justice,” the girl says, eyes shining and practically beaming now, before she makes her coffee order and heads to her usual seat by the window. 

The next day he catches her looking up at him once, and then twice… each time she looks back down hurriedly, and seems more secretive over what she’s drawing than normal, her arm crowded around the page of whatever it is she’s drawing. They barely talk that day and he wonders if it’s something he said yesterday about the paintings, clearly out of his element. 

The day after that he comes in to find a new painting in place of the one that was sold. Instead of heading to the counter like usual he walks over to it slowly. For some reason this one, more than all the others, truly resonates with him. He feels an almost personal connection to it, and the longer he looks at it he starts to frown, not sure  _ why _ this one feels… almost intimate? 

“You hate it,” comes a voice behind him, and he jumps at the sudden sound to see the redhead standing there fidgeting with her hands. 

“What?” Jace says, shaking his head. “No, I- that’s not it,” he insists. “It’s amazing, just like all the others.” 

“Then what is it?” The girl asks anxiously. 

“You know when you get a sense that you should recognize something? Like… this just shows up out of the blue but it feels so  _ familiar _ to me. Almost like…” his words trail off as he looks from the girl back up to the painting, the black at the bottom, more golden at the top, and in the middle a mixture of blues and browns that suddenly click into place. “...like a reflection.” 

Jace reaches a hand out tentatively to touch the painting carefully, noting that the colors are the exact same shades of his eyes, and his black barista uniform, and the golden blonde of his hair. The girl moves next to him and studies his expression closely. 

“That makes sense, since you inspired it,” the girl admits softly. There’s a small, hopeful smile on her face for a moment, but when Jace doesn’t say anything immediately, looking from her to the painting again, she starts to panic. “Is it weird? It’s too much, isn’t it? Simon said I should’ve asked first, but I wanted it to be a surprise, and-” 

“It’s fine. It’s more than fine,” Jace interrupts, stopping her mid-sentence. “You painted all these?” He motions around the cafe. 

The girl nods, blushing slightly. “Yeah. I should’ve said something the other day when you said all those nice things about them but instead of introducing myself I apparently thought the better course of action was to totally creep you out instead.” She laughs, but there’s an edge to it. “I’m Clary, local struggling artist.” 

Jace knows that now, because the name is signed at the bottom of every painting, but he lets the introduction stand. 

“Jace,” he says, knowing it’s equally unnecessary since he wears a nametag during work. “And for the record, I don’t think it’s creepy or weird. I really like it.” 

Clary relaxes visibly. “Oh thank goodness, because I really like coming here and I didn’t want to never be able to show my face in here again.” 

“That’d be a real tragedy,” Jace agrees. “Because I love seeing your face in here.” 

Clary blushes a little again, but smiles, and that smile is enough encouragement for Jace to finally do what he’s wanted to do for weeks. 

“And I'd love to see it outside of here, too, if you’d want to meet me for dinner sometime.” He’s pretty sure an entire painting inspired by him is enough of a giveaway that his crush hasn’t been one-sided this entire time, but he still holds his breath a moment while waiting for Clary’s answer. 

“That sounds great,” Clary agrees, and the way her eyes light up when she smiles just for him is more captivating than any painting. 

Jace just might have a new favorite thing about the coffee shop. 

**Author's Note:**

> (Find me on [Tumblr](http://bytheangell.tumblr.com) and also on [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/By_The_Angell)! <3 )


End file.
